Ballet in Wien

Posted on November 21, 2007

Again on a train this time bound for Zürich. I enjoyed my short stay in Vienna. I arrived into Vienna around 14:00 and followed a sign and my gps to a hostel which i later discovered was converted from a bordello. Quickly i settled in and with only a couple of hours of sun left i wondered the local area getting my bearings. A stationary shop caught my eye and i purchased some pascals to pass the time on long train trips. I made the mistake of buying some fruit with gloves then returned to the hostel promising myself I’d make more of tomorrow.

Tomorrow came early thanks to an old Chinese man with plastic bags in the same dorm. I was in the museum quarter before the ticket sellers. Soon though, i was wondering through one of the many galleries in the museum quarter, lennod, which featured works from the inter war years. My favorite pieces were Richard gerstl’s, Selbstbildnis als halbakt aka semi-nude self portrait, 1904/05 & bildnis des vaters emil gerstl aka portrait of the father emil gerstl 1907. A further wonder through the city brought me to a market where i feasted on deep fried bread coated in garlic oil. A little sickly. Then returned to the hostel with more fruit, this time purchased glovelessly.

At night i ventured to the wiener staatsoper for the ballet, coppelia. I purchased standing tickets which positioned me in the back row on the top floor but with a full view of the stage and only 2e out of pocket i wasn’t complaining. It was my first ballet experience and at first i found it hard to know what to focus on, i was used to Hollywood telling me what was important. Quickly though i started enjoying the subtle background acting and magical dancing and I think it was because of this that i bonded so quickly with the characters. i was also amazed at the audience and i enjoyed swimming through expensive perfumes and colognes people watching in between acts. I will definitely see more shows when i return home.